For the week ending on August 19th, the biggest home media success was Lionsgate Home Entertainment's new release of The Hunger Games. Produced for a modest $78 million budget, this adaptation of author Suzanne Collins' dystopian science-fiction novel garnered Lionsgate a big win when it premiered theatrically last March - to date, it has grossed over $684 million worldwide, with a domestic total of $407 million - and the film's home media fortunes seem similarly lucrative. The Hunger Games topped both the Blu-ray and overall package media charts and had a Blu-ray market share of 43%. Its sales totals stand as a testament to the feature's popularity; it shot to the top of the rankings despite streeting only one day before the end of the weekly sales window.
With a number two position, Universal Studios' The Lorax maintained its standing in the top three Blu-ray and overall package media sales slots, though it did lose a large share of viewer interest competing against The Hunger Games; looking at the HD format only, where The Lorax had a Blu-ray market share of 37%, the CGI-animated comedy sold only 22% as many discs as The Hunger Games, and the amount of total home media units sold improved only marginally - just 26% as many copies as the PG-13 thriller. That said, The Lorax's appeal, however diminished, certainly evinced the appeal that more family-friendly media can have even when paired against a medium as culturally sweeping as The Hunger Games.
Finally, third place on the HD rankings held the highly anticipated Blu-ray release of Jaws. Newly restored for the format, Jaws performed below expectations because it had to contend with The Hunger Games; director Steven Spielberg's iconic adventure sold 15% as many Blu-rays as The Hunger Games and 7% as many total units. Still, Jaws' home media reception demonstrated that consumers were excited to upgrade the movie in the high-definition era - 94% of its overall copies sold came from the HD platform.
Good to see a great catalog title make it's way to the Top 3, and even an underrated, lesser-known movie make the number 5 spot: The Raid. Great week for new releases, and in the stride again for the coming weeks of more to come after a rather dry July.
Thus, The Hunger Games sold 1,600,000 BD units in its first two days. Jaws moved 240,000 BD units. Lorax in its second week sold a huge 352,000 BD copies. The Raid: Redemption with almost 75,000 BD units sold...not too bad. Sales are starting to Heat up with big boys The Avengers and TDKR coming later this year.
Not surprised with The Hunger Games at #1, but definitely good to see an indie foreign language film, The Raid: Redemption, with far less budget than many of the films in the top 10, make the top 5!
I think Jaws performed pretty well considering its an older title, and most people that were fans already owned it on DVD. The majority of sales were probably upgrades to Blu-ray from DVD. Will The Hunger Games perform that well in 37 years ?
I too am surprised at the 43% marketshare for Hunger Games. I would have bet low 60's or at least high 50's. Maybe it's because a lot of parents got it for their kids dvd player. Not to mention the Blu ray did not include a DVD copy.
Never though I'd be saying that the exclusion of a format I want to be completely replaced could possibly be a reason for a lower than expected Blu Ray performance.
